Brief history

Mark Heaney is a prolific studio and live drummer. He began playing drums at the age of 8 and was mainly self taught but had drum lessons for a while with drummer and teacher Jim Luff . At age 10 was the feature drummer in his Fathers Showband which he performed with until the age of 16 playing around clubs and dancehalls in the East of England. During his 20’s he cut his teeth working as a freelance drummer in and around London and It was during this time he played drums alongside Fraser T Smith, London Blues legend TJ Johnson, Chris Chesney and he also recorded two albums for Prog Rock legends Threshold. In 1994 he moved to London and attended a two year course at the world famous drum school Drumtech under the tutorage of Francis Seriau and Paul Elliott from 1994 -1996. During his time at the school he worked as a drum clinician for various different drum companies at music shows and independent clinics and it was his performances at these events that brought him to the attention of the drumming world. In 1998 he joined John Squires Seahorses and toured and recorded extensively with the band. His time with the Seahorses included headline slots at T in the Park, Slane Castle, V festivals, MTV, Radio 1 and extensive recording of a new album at Olympic studios London produced by David Botrill. The band also supported the Rolling Stones on their Bridges to Babylon tour in Spain and Scandinavia. After the demise of the Seahorses, Mark went onto to work with John Squire on a new project which included ex Verve members Simon Jones and Simon Tong. The band recorded throughout 1999 at John’s residence and some of Mark’s drum recordings from those sessions appeared on John Squire’s solo album. The tracks were mixed at Rockfield studios in Wales but shortly after Mark left the band and went onto form The Shining. The Shining signed to Sony and recorded their debut album “True Skies” at Sphere studios in Battersea and the album was produced by Youth and mixed by Tom Rothrock. The went on to perform at Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds and numerous TV and Radio appearances including Steve Lamacq but due to the demise of guitar bands at the end of the 90’s they disbanded in 2001. Mark then went on to work as a session drummer for legendary manager Jazz Summers and during this time he recorded and performed live with artists such as Youth, The Freelance Hellraiser, Klaxons, Badly drawn boy, Jacknife Lee, Shit Disco and many others. He also recorded tracks on Howie Day’s Gold and platinum album “Stop All The World Now” again recorded at the legendary Olympic studios. One track Mark recorded drums for “Numbness for Sound” featured strings from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2005 Mark was asked to record the drums for Post Punk Legends Gang of Four on their album “Return the Gift”. After recording the album which was produced by Andy Gill Mark was asked to join the band which at that time was formed original members Jon king, Dave Allen and Andy Gill and spent 8 years as the drummer for the band. During this time Mark recorded another 2 albums, “Content” and “What Happens Next” plus numerous EP’s and singles. His time with the band also included extensive touring performing all over Europe, China, Japan, Australia, N America, S America. The band also made many appearances on radio and TV including XFM, Radio 1, Steve Lamacq, Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC, The Late Show with Dave Letterman, Jools Holland with Eddie Reader, KEXP, KCRW and many many others. The band also performed live at Massive Attack’s Meltdown at the Royal Festival Hall with David Bowie’s bass player Gail Ann Dorsey who joined them on several dates in the US. In 2013 after a long run Mark left Gang of Four. After leaving Gang of Four Mark recorded on an album for Tomoyasu Hotei of Kill Bill fame and also recorded drums for an album that was engineered by renowned producer/engineer Mark Howard who has worked with legends such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, U2. Mark was always keen to return to his jazz roots and put together a Band called Extemporize. The band performed at Ronnie Scotts and received great acclaim for the debut album “Capital” but unfortunately due to differences within the band he disbanded Extemporize in 2019. It was at this point Mark focused solely on his composing work and his own solo drum work. He has been releasing solo drum albums for many years and they have received great acclaim and recognition from the drum community worldwide including nominations for best drum album twice in Rhythm magazine. He has also been featured and interviewed in publications such as Modern Drummer magazine, Rhythm magazine, iDrum, Batteur, Percussive arts society, Slagwerkrant, Jazzwise, Marlbank, NME, Time out, Marlbank, London jazz news.. As his composing work evolved Mark found himself becoming more and more drawn towards the world of ambient music and it is an art form that he now specialises in creating immersive soundscapes from the ground up using tape machines and has created bespoke music for the likes of Microsoft, EMI, De Wolfe, Warner Chappell, Extreme, Massive Bass, Sony with his work appearing on film and TV worldwide. His live drumming sometimes features alongside his ambient soundscapes to create emotive rhythmic concepts. Mark’s legacy and lifetime in drums is evident in his work, unique sound, improvisational abilities, flow and playing style. As a drummer Mark is held in high regard within the music and drumming worlds.